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his photograph was sent by Hans-Petter

Sandseth from Norway. He says: "This picture

is so precious to my mother, she will not let

anyone touch it. In June 2004 its her 70th birthday; this

restored family portrait would be the ultimate gift! I

hope you will be able to help."

It seems this photograph has been hanging in direct

sunlight, in the same frame, on the same wall for about

30 years, causing discolouration and bleaching. The

lighter tones are barely visible, the subjects faces lack

definition and are unrecognisable, and a strong yellow

cast is apparent across most of the print surface.

However, luckily, the edge of the image still retains

most of the original tonal range, as it was covered by

the frame and therefore protected from the sun. We will

use some of the colour information from the edge to

restore the rest of the image. The main problem is the

loss of detail in the bright areas such as the face of the

grandmother, the child on the right and the girl in the

red striped jumper. The bleaching is patchy and uneven;

so to restore the colour balance we will work on

all the selected areas individually. First, we will restore

the strength of the colour on the face of the child

on the left. You will notice that once the colour of

the face has been intensified to look more natural,

the yellow cast will increase at the same time and will

have to be corrected next. The same two step method

will be used to a greater or lesser extend on each

subject and other selected areas. Ultimately the

retouching has to be undetectable.

The colour of the 1970sThis family photo of grandmother and the children has faded to a point where the subject is barelyrecognisable. Some of the original colour is left around the edges well use it as a reference template

YOUR GUIDE ED DAVISEd Davis is a corporate photographer with many years of studio and location experience. Hespecialises in image manipulation, and delivers creative solutions combining photography anddigital technology. He is a member of NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals)

www.dcmag.co.uk/EdDavis

120 DIGITALCAMERAMAGAZINE

T

CREATE RESTORE COLOUR

PORTFOLIO ED DAVIS WEBSITE WWW.ED-DAVIS-PHOTOGRAPHY.CO.UK

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The photograph is very badly fadeddue to prolonged daylight exposureBEFORE The subjects have natural flesh tones,and the clothing and detail look normalAFTER

Photo

Clinic

THE READERHANS-PETTER SANDSETH

This precious photo would be

the perfect surprise present for

his mothers 70th birthday.Can we bring back the colour?

CLINIC

CHALLENGE US

CHALLENGELEVEL

TIME TOCOMPLETEHOURS2

2

NOW SEND YOURS!Contact us via email with a 100K

JPEG attached and, if we like it,well get in touch!Email us today at:

picdesk.dcm@futurenet.co.uk

2

2

2

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01LOSS OF DETAIL IN THE PHOTOGRAPHSolution:Duplicate and overlay sections of the image to

increase the strength of the tonal range, using the

blending modes.

02UNEVEN AREAS OF COLOURSolution:Use the intact edge as a colour reference to

adjust the colour, and apply Levels, using the Curves and

Colour adjustment tools.

03MULTIPLE SELECTIONSSolution: Layers take up large amounts of memory.

We can address this problem by using Work Paths to

minimise file size.

http://www.dcmag.co.uk/eddavishttp://www.ed-davis-photography.co.uk/mailto:picdesk.dcm@futurenet.co.ukmailto:picdesk.dcm@futurenet.co.ukmailto:picdesk.dcm@futurenet.co.ukhttp://www.ed-davis-photography.co.uk/http://www.dcmag.co.uk/eddavis

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DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE 121

To make the image sharper before you print it out its a good idea to use an Unsharp

Mask. Go to Filter8Sharpen8Unsharp Mask and then set the amount at 65 Radius

1.0 Threshold 4.0

4ONE-CLICK

FIX

STAGE1

ASSESS THE PROBLEM

The colour has really faded. Theres littledifference between the colour of the boys face

and the wall behind him. In reality the face would be a

flesh tone and the wall beige. Correcting the colour and

the tonal range will be the main part of this project.

SELECT THE AREA

Using the Rectangular Marquee Tool, (M),make a selection around the faded area with a

Feather setting of about 8 pixels. This gives a soft edge to

the selection. Now Copy (Ctrl + C) and Paste (Ctrl + V) this

to create a new Layer.

02

WORK ON THE NEW LAYER

Decide which sections of the photo need to beenhanced, either by increasing the detail or

adjusting the colour. On the new Layer make a selection

of an area, such as grandmothers face, using the Lasso

Tool (L) with a Feather setting of 1 pixel.

0301

CREATE WORK PATHSWith a selection active, open the Paths Pallet

and click the Make Work Path from Selection

icon, as illustrated. Click the black arrow, (top right corner),and select Save Path from the menu. Keep making

selections and saving the paths ready for retouching.

DIVIDE UP THE IMAGEThe image is now divided up, making it easier

to change the colour of separate sections. For

example, the grandmother in the centre has very lighthair and skin so the bleaching out by the sun has affected

her more her face is barely visible.

05 SAVE SPACEDealing with Work Paths rather than layers

means the file size is much smaller. It enables

you to work with more selections, since youre using lessmemory. The image we are retouching is 3.12MB. If each

Work Path was a Layer, wed have a 30MB file!

0604

COLOUR BALANCEClick Image8Adjustments8Curves (Ctrl + M).

Select areas that would represent white, black

and mid-grey, use the corresponding Eye Dropper to

sample the area and click OK. If the colour gets worse

you selected the wrong area undo and try again.

ADD TONETo duplicate a Layer, drag it down to the Create

New Layer Icon. In the Blending Mode

Selector, click on Multiply, the image darkens. Click on the

Eye Icon in the Layers Pallet to deactivate it. Click the black

arrow, top right, and select Merge Visible from the menu.

08 ACTIVATE A SELECTIONOpen the Paths Pallet, click the Path you need.Click on the arrow top right, a drop down

menu appears. Click on Make Selection and set the

Feather to 2 pix. There is now a selection around the area

(you can add or subtract from it using the Lasso Tool [L]).

0907

ASSESSMENTThe photograph is washed

out except for the edge that

was hidden from view by

the picture frame. This

section will be used as a

guide to the re-create the

original colours.

STAGE2 2

ADJUSTMENTSDividing the photograph into

sections gives you the

flexibility to adjust each partindividually to change the

colour, contrast, tone or

sharpness until you are

happy with the result.

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COLOUR BALANCE

Once the selection is re-activated the colourinside can be adjusted. Open Image8

Adjustments8Colour Balance (Ctrl + B). Move the sliders

until the area looks natural and the yellow colour has

disappeared. Do the same to the other sections.

SELECTIVE COLOUR

For more complex colour adjustments use theSelective Colour dialog box. Click Image8

Adjustments8Selective Colour. This method enables you

to reduce the yellow, magenta, cyan or black in one

colour channel without affecting the others.

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CONTINUE UNTIL DONE

Adjust the colour on each area of thephotograph until you are satisfied. Merge the

Layers together then click on the top right hand arrow in

the Layers Palette. Click Flatten Image. Finally remove any

marks and blemishes with the Cloning Tools.

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BUILT-IN COLOUR BALANCEPhotoshop has its own built-in colour

adjustment tool variations. Click Image8

Adjustments8Variations to show the original image in the

centre with colour variations of it around it.

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QUICK FIXIn Photoshop 7 theres a new addition to the

Adjustments Pallet. Auto Colour (Shift + Ctrl +

B) automatically adjusts the colour of a photo. Use Edit8

Fade Auto Colour then the slider to reduce the auto-colour.

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STAGE3 2

FINISHING TOUCHESSome final adjusting to thecolour balance, and this old

picture is completely

rejuvenated

CREATE RESTORE COLOUR

INFOCUS Final presentation

EXPERT TIP0

MULTIPLE LAYERSWhen dealing with multiple

layers it is good practice to link

them to the base layer as you

create them. (If you move them

accidentally, relocating them is

time consuming). In the Layers

Pallet click on the check box next

to the Eye Icon a link of chain

indicates it is attached.

ED DAVISPHOTOSHOP EXPERT

THE FINISHED LOOK

The family portrait hasregained its original feel. On

this occasion, the final photograph would

make a very special 70th birthday card.

To show it off to its best advantage, it

could be mounted or printed with a

wider border, showing the whole of

retouched image.

15 TECHNIQUEThe final result wasachieved using the

edge of the

photograph as a guide.

Always look for any

original colour

reference, even from

other photographs of

the same period.

PAPER

With the advent of moreversatile printers you can

print on a wider variety of

materials and surfaces

from high quality art

paper to CDs.